Gone To The Dogs
by AriesTaurus
Summary: Danny observes Steve and realises some thigns. Coda for 2x19 Kalele, or how Danny managed to pull another one on Steve. As usual, bromance abounds but that's where it stays.


A/N: This is a coda for Kalele, ep 2X19. It's fun, light with just a hint of seriousness and is a huge wink to my canine obsession: I breed and show purebred dogs which means I have a whole *coughsevencough* lot of dogs in the house, plus the three cats. So there.

Feedback is most welcome, as is concrit, as always. I don't always have time to respond to reviews but love and appreciate each one.

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Danny knew he had a good buzz going when he started comparing his equally-or-maybe-a-lot-more buzzed partner to an overeager, enthusiastic puppy, more so than usual, anyway. With lots of detailed observations. Oh god, he was so, so drunk.

But still.

When he was happy and relaxed, Steve had this floppy, uncoordinated, insanely joyous vibe about him that Danny could only compare to that of a Labrador Retriever puppy. The comparisons didn't stop there though; an insane love for the water and innate faithfulness to his family was common to both creatures, yet both had an uncanny ability to find trouble. It showed in Steve's eagerness to share all the aspects of his life he could with Danny, in his endless badly-ending good intentions and schemes, not that Danny really blamed him. Same thing about the tenacity Steve had; once he had a bone, there was nothing you could do to make him let it go and he'd go to any lengths to find it, no matter the damage to the proverbial yard.

Danny couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips as he gazed at Steve, sprawled on the beach chair next to him. After the salted cake joke, Danny had herded the gang out to Steve's and revealed that he indeed had more than a few tricks up his sleeve and a few Seals up his back pocket.

Wade and the rest of SEAL team 9 had done a bang up job of setting up the barbecue and Malia had taken care of the spread on the table. The banner Grace had made swung gently from the second story railing crowning it all and Danny vowed to never tell a soul how he managed to hang it there by himself.

The only thing Steve had been able to do once he'd taken it all in was grin like a madman and engulf Danny into a heartfelt hug. The words he'd said, damp eyes still on Danny's had not yet faded from his mind and wouldn't any time soon.

"_Thank you. I haven't felt like I've still had a family, a real one, for over fifteen years. You gave that back to me today. Thank you."_

Danny had wanted to come back with some wiseass crack like he usually did but the depth of emotion behind Steve's eyes had left him speechless. Mostly. He'd gone with his usual, if earnest 'Yeah, I love you too, babe.'

"What are you grinning about over there?" the man in question asked him, gazing at him over the back left side of his beach chair, his head hanging mostly upside down, eyes glazed by alcohol.

"You're drunk off your ass, you know that?"

"Yeah. S' my birthday. I'm entitled."

"That you are, babe, that you are! Speaking of, I need another beer. You want one?"

"Probably shouldn't but what the hell."

"One McGarrett hangover, comin'up!" Danny called out, stumbling to his feet and heading towards their seemingly endless supply of beer. He grabbed two Longboards from the very bottom of the ice tub, making sure they were nice and cold. That was another thing Steve had in common with Lab puppies. He had no idea when to stop, that too much of anything is never a good thing. And that goofy, drunken smile, all pink tongue and teeth… He couldn't help it. He burst out laughing as he handed Steve the beer.

"What? Do I have something in my teeth?"

"No, you goof. You just remind me of something," he said, trying to bite down on the laughter.

"Of what? C'mon Danny! What!"

"All right, all right, all right. You know what you remind me of right now? More so than usual?"

"What? A handsome, fearless freshly-turned thirty-six year old?"

"No. You're sure you really wanna know?"

"Extensive close quarter battle training. Torture and interrogation techniques. I have ways of making you talk, Danno, remember that."

"Oh that is so corny. God, you're hilarious when you're drunk."

"C'mon Danny!" Steve whined.

"Oh for the love of… Okay. You have an uncanny resemblance to a Labrador retriever puppy right now, you know that?"

Steve gave him a curious, puzzled look, seemed to think on it and smiled. "Good hunter, waterdog… yeah. Yeah okay. But you're more of a Jack Russell Terrier type, though," he said seriously, the drunken eyes settling on his.

A hundred different retorts piled in his brain and fought for dominance but what made it out of his mouth was: "Really? Why's that?"

He blamed the beer.

Steve hauled himself sideways towards him and shook his head a second, as if the world was starting to tilt. The man was going to be in a world of hurt come morning.

"Well, you're not that tall but doesn't matter, because you're fierce and loud and tenacious and really smart so…"

Danny took a long swig of his beer. "Huh, yeah, okay," he agreed. He pointed the bottom of his beer towards Chin. "What about him?"

"Hm. Tough call."

"Yeah," Danny huffed. "He's too laid back to be a German Shepherd. I mean, he's got that perpetual zen vibe going on."

"Some old, wise breed that can shoot a shot gun," Steve said seriously.

Danny snorted, sending the beer he was attempting to swallow straight up his nose. He spluttered and laughed hysterically, Steve right along with him.

"I got it! I got it, I got it!" Danny crowed as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "A Bullmastiff. Big guy, laid back, will sit on a poacher till the ranger comes and picks him up!"

Steve gave him a toothy, amused smile. "That works. And Kono?"

"I know! I know! I saw these at the Westminster Show before I left Jersey. English Springer Spaniel. Long black and white hair, gorgeous to look at but kickass pheasant dog. Sweet as can be but can hunt with the best of 'em."

"And Wade and his pack of…"

"German Shepherds," both men chorused.

"Wait, wait, wait," Steve halted. "I'm a SEaL too…"

"Yeah, you are! You have your Shepherd moments but you're more… intense. You know, more like a Malinois."

"A what?"

"Malinois. Belgian sheepdogs they use as police dogs. I saw one at the World Police and Firefighter games in Canada, in 2007. You should have seen that thing."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, only you? You kinda have an off switch. Turns you into that goofy Lab."

"Well, you have your Pit bull moments."

"Yeah, maybe" Danny drawled, smiling. "Your sister now that's Golden Retriever all the way."

Steve turned to glare at him again. "Did you just call my sister a dumb blonde?"

"No you moron! She's a lot like you but _niiice_. Golden's the same as a lab but with class, you know?"

"Eh. More like a poodle. High maintenance, temperamental with a flair for the dramatic." Steve paused and gave Danny a suspicious look. "Hey, did you just make a pass at my _sister_?"

"I think your sister's great, so what? Oh. Okay, okay! Now he goes all Rottweiler on me. Okay, okay, forget I said anything, just relax, take it easy, big brother Super SEAL sir," Danny placated, hands raised in surrender under Steve's murderous glare, which came slowly undone as his shoulders started to shake and his features relaxed into an amused smile that eventually gave way to laughter.

"You're an ass," Danny muttered, draining his beer. Steve raised his bottle in a toast and polished it off too.

Both men sat in silence, Steve's eyes lost over the horizon, features relaxed and serene, something Danny hadn't seen in him since Korea. He stretched on his own chair, watching the rest of the gang chat and laugh. They were a miss-matched family but that's what they were. People often asked him and Steve how long they'd been married but that was the wrong question. They should be asking how long they've been brothers. Funnily enough, despite their rocky start, arm-twisting, right cross and all, Danny now felt like it had always been like this. He remembered the time in his life before Steve McGarrett and Chin Ho and Kono but he couldn't imagine the rest of it without them. And suddenly, he had to sit up and breathe deep a few times, the realization hitting him hard enough to steal his breath away.

Hawaii had become his home, the place where he wanted to stay. He'd follow Grace wherever she went but… for the first time in his life, he couldn't imagine leaving this… thing he had here, this weird cross between family, work, friends and all that.

He let his eyes once again stray to his partner as the sun turned deeply orange, sunset imminent. Steve was still, breathing evenly, the hand covering the neck of the beer bottle resting in the sand lax. He looked asleep but somehow, Danny knew better.

"So you eventually turn into a maudlin drunk, huh? Should've figured," he said, watching Kono try and goad one of the SEALs into arm-wrestling Kamekona.

"I'm sorry, Danny," Steve said quietly, just a hint of a slur catching on the words.

"What for, babe?"

"At the airport. About Matt. Saying you two weren't close. Hell, before last year, I hadn't laid eyes on Mary Ann in… close to ten years."

"It's good, babe. Don't worry about it."

"No, Danny, it's not," Steve said, turning towards him. "I acted like an ass and I'm sorry. And you… you just went along right with me. Just said 'okay'. Didn't even once try to tell me to be objective."

Danny chuckled. "I may talk a lot but I'm too smart to waste my breath on useless arguments."

"Danny-"

"Stop. Just… stop. Okay? What you did for me and Matt? Pretty much gets you a free pass on this. So shut up, enjoy your birthday. I'm getting us another beer. If you're gonna be hurting by morning, might as well have company, seeing as misery loves it."

"Hey Danno,"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. I mean it."

"I know. Hey, what about Malia?"

"About?"

"She's the only one here we didn't match up."

"Kamekona."

Danny snorted. "Newf."

"Okay, okay, okay. We're back to Malia."

Danny shook his head. "No, nope. No sir. Not going there. Chin'd kill us."

"Why would I kill you two?" the man in question asked, walking up behind them.

Steve turned to him, all trace of humour and mirth conspicuously absent from his face.

"Better to let sleeping dogs lie, brah."

Chin gave the both of them a thoroughly puzzled expression before walking away, shaking his head.

Steve's mouth curled into a wicked grin and the two of them dissolved into helpless laughter, until the sun disappeared from the water. Sometimes, dog days weren't so bad.

Fin.


End file.
